Japanís new government expected to bring back nuclear

"Could Japanís election last weekend of a new government help revitalize the outlook for nuclear power in the country that has all but shut it down?

Japanís Kyodo News thinks so.

In a story published by The Mainichi newspaper, the news service notes that the incoming Liberal Democratic Party under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will reverse the outgoing governmentís intention to abandon nuclear by 2040."

3. Maybe their carbon output will go back down to where it was

4. CO2 is a problem, but it's the fiscal woes that are pushing this step

It's unclear whether it will work or not - the population is still opposed.

Japan could run up its huge public debt because their balance of trade surplus supported it. Now that the balance of trade has shifted negative, they are in dire fiscal straits.

Abe's program is to drive down the yen, helping exporters, to halt the rise in sales tax next year if the economy can't support it, and somehow to prevent slamming into a fiscal crisis. There doesn't seem any way for Japan to come back to a trade balance if they have to keep importing fossil fuels, so....

But it's interesting that bondholders of utility companies don't seem to believe that it's necessarily going to fly. It may be that the shareholders themselves aren't too happy at the prospect.

6. "I guess nuke meltdowns don't mean a thing."

Maybe they totted up the number of deaths from the ""nuke meltdowns" and realised
how downright trivial that number was compared to the number who died from fossil
fuel pollution over the same time period?

Not denying that there will be tons of bribery going on - as you say, same as for the
US (or UK) political environment - but, in this particular case, the lack of support
for the "OMG EVERYONES GONNA DIE FROM TEH NUKES!!!" side of the debate
isn't helping anyone ...